Standlake F2 - 18/10/20

21 cars were in attendance for the penultimate points meeting of the year, as Standlake continues its run of 20+ car meetings stretching back to the end of 2019.  Surprise Scottish visitor 92 John Hogg completed a 600-mile round trip to be in attendance following his visit for the Open meeting last month.  42 Ash Greening was another unexpected attendee due to his ‘home’ track Grimley also running a meeting at the same time.  The H2 Butcher car was piloted by Stephen Bailey making his F2 debut and finally 26 Steve Turner debuted a new car.

92 John Hogg, a long way from home!

421 Gary Webb in the 280 Pete Webb car

Heat 1 started with 20 cars as 2 Craig Passey pulled off before the green flag.  Pole sitter 509 Jordan Butcher lead into turn 1 as 185 Jess Webb got by 533 Stuart Pitson for 2^nd with 486 Jez Watts also gaining a place on the latter, as he dropped back a few places in the opening lap.  776 James Trigg got the better of 534 Tom Stoodley on turn 2 for 4^th.

In the battle amongst the pack of 8 red graders, 105 Louis Williams and 155 Carl Lewis made early moves on 563 Keith Walding, although the latter came back to pass 352 Andy Webb as the places between them changed several times early on.

Stoodley got back ahead of Trigg as the pair passed Watts, who also lost out to 109 Stuart Biddle and dropped back to 6^th.  Walding then spun on turn 1 and dropped right to the back, before Butcher lost the lead a lap later by also spinning in the same spot, although he was to rejoin in 8^th, but made little progress before being helped round by Hogg on the opposite corner shortly afterwards.

Greening was forced to retire with a loose wheelguard while Hogg lost out to Williams and Andy Webb passed 82 Keith Richens.  Up front Jess Webb had a sizeable lead as those behind battled.  Lewis was next to retire while Biddle spun out of 4^th place on turn 1, allowing Williams up into the position.  623 Rob Dobie was passed by Hogg for 5^th on turn 3, with Andy and 421 Gary Webb also gaining on the next corner, although the latter was then passed by 856 Paul Webb.

535 Ryan Stoodley was another spinner while Paul Webb gained on Butcher for 8^th.  Hogg used the bumper on Williams and passed him on turn 4 to claim 4^th spot as just ahead of the pair, Trigg gained 2^nd from Tom Stoodley.  Hogg then dropped Stoodley to 4^th as he looked the quickest car on track and passed Trigg on the same lap to now sit 2^nd.

With 3 laps remaining Paul Webb retired as Walding passed Richens to break back into the top 10 after spinning.  Williams reeled in Tom Stoodley for 4^th as Hogg rapidly closed down Jess Webb’s lead and as the pair entered the final bend the bumper went in from the 92 car, creating just enough of a gap to win the drag race to the line by less than half a car length from Webb and Trigg in 3^rd.

Result: 92, 185, 776, 105, 352, 534, 623, 421, 563, 509

 

Heat 2 also featured a 20-car field as Bailey missed out with car issues.  Pole sitter Pitson took the early lead ahead of Butcher and Jess Webb, although the latter made a move and snatched 2^nd as the pair exited turn 2.  Passey’s good start saw him gain on Watts and Butcher in the opening lap as he moved into 3^rd.  At the back of the field, Lewis got the best start from the red grade as Greening passed Walding into turn 2 on the opening lap.

On lap 3 Webb moved into the lead as she dived under Pitson into turn 1, with Passey also gaining on the latter, closely followed by Tom Stoodley.  Lewis moved into the top 10 as he passed Dobie and 26 Steve Turner on the back straight, while Pitson dropped to 6^th behind Butcher and Biddle and Tom Stoodley gained on Passey to snatch 2^nd.  The 533 car was then swallowed up by the red top train and dropped back several places further as Ryan Stoodley made a move for 5^th as he passed first Richens and then Biddle around the bottom bend.  Hogg was forced to retire with a puncture as Walding was spun by Greening on turn 3 as the pair battled for the same patch of track.

Ryan Stoodley moved past Butcher a lap later while Greening out-dragged Lewis down the back straight for 6^th, as Biddle and Richens were dropped back into the chasing red top group; Paul Webb and Williams also gaining on the pair.  Lewis regained the place from Greening into turn 1 as they moved out wide around the spinning Ryan Stoodley, leaving the pair now 4^th and 5^th respectively.

Webb’s lead was then under attack as Tom Stoodley moved into the lead on turn 1 while 3^rd placed Passey was reeled in by Lewis, Greening and Paul Webb, before spinning out on turn 3, sending 421 wide in avoidance and allowing Andy Webb and Biddle back underneath. 

Stoodley then appeared to slow as Webb retook the lead with 3 laps to go before Paul Webb and Turner tangled on the final corner and both spun while Stoodley took a trip across the infield, sending 2 big marker tyres out into the track.  The combination of this caused the red flags to be thrown with 2 laps remaining and handed the leading Jess Webb her first ever F2 win ahead of Greening and Lewis.

Result: 185, 42, 155, 105, 352, 509, 421, 109, 82, 535 **

** Unofficial result based on my 'lap scoring' at the time of the stoppage.  I didn't hear a full result read out, so will check and update this when the official points are released

A first win for 185 Jess Webb in Heat 2

20 cars took to the track for the final, with Lewis the one to not make it out.  Butcher lead the field into turn 1, while Walding made a slow start from the front of the red grade, allowing Williams to gain.  Greening moved ahead of the pair on the opening lap, as Walding regained the place on Williams into turn 3.

Turner and Pitson were both early spinners on turn 4 while Trigg retired with a misfire.  Butcher then slowed before retiring as Jess Webb took the lead.  Hogg gained a place on Walding on turn 3, but immediately came back under attack from the 563 car into turn 1, before finally making the move stick as they exited turn 2; Walding losing momentum enough for Paul and Andy Webb and Williams to gain into turn 3.

Dobie was spun on turn 2 by Greening but managed to continue after being hit by Paul Webb to straighten him back up.  Biddle made a move on Jess Webb for the lead into turn 3 as Richens took 3^rd from Tom Stoodley, before taking 2^nd from Webb a lap later.  This left Webb out on the wide line and saw a number of cars dive underneath as she dropped back to 10^th.

Richens lost out to Greening for 2^nd on turn 4, the former then came under attack from Ryan Stoodley and Hogg and was moved back to 5^th.  Greening claimed the lead from Biddle on turn 4 a lap later and set off quickly building a lead as the lap boards came out.  Andy Webb hit Williams wide into turn 1 and took 7^th place, which also allowed Gary Webb to gain as Tom Stoodley spun on turn 2.  Paul Webb moved into 5^th ahead of Richens and Walding took 9^th from Williams with 2 laps remaining.

With a number of drivers looking evenly paced, no one was able to gain further in the closing couple of laps and it felt Greening to come through for what was rather surprisingly, his first final win of the season ahead of Biddle and Ryan Stoodley.

Result: 42, 109, 535, 92, 856, 82, 352, 421, 563, 105

Down to 19 cars for the Grand National with Butcher joining Lewis in loading up for the day.  Jess Webb took advantage of her front row start to lead the opening stages ahead of Pitson, while Gary Webb and Hogg made early progress in the red grade, both passing Walding on the opening lap, the latter then being spun by Williams on turn 4, ending his race with a puncture.

Pitson spun out of 2^nd place on turn 2, while Dobie came under attack from Andy and Gary Webb and dropped back.  Biddle was another to retire as Passey made a move on Trigg for 2^nd and Paul Webb claimed a spot on Dobie on the exit of turn 2.  Trigg then lost 3^rd to Tom Stoodley while Watts was dropped from 6^th to 9^th as the aforementioned trio of reds came through.

Passey then challenged Jess Webb for the lead and snatched it on the turn 4 exit, while Trigg was bettered by Richens on turn 3.  Tom Stoodley then took 2^nd from Webb, who lost momentum and dropped back behind Richens and Trigg later in the same lap.  Williams joined the list of retirements shortly afterwards as Hogg moved himself up into 4^th ahead of Gary Webb, taking advantage of Trigg also retiring.

Up front Passey’s lead was the length of a straight while the battle behind him continued.  Richens briefly took 2^nd from Stoodley, although both were to lose out to Hogg who jumped from 4^th to 2^nd within half a lap as the 5 lap board was shown.

Gary and Paul Webb moved Richens wide for 4^th and 5^th, then gained on Stoodley as behind them Greening was making rapid progress from his handicap start and now passed Richens to sit 7^th, behind Andy Webb in 6^th.  With 2 laps remaining Andy Webb passed Stoodley for 5^th as behind him Greening spun on turn 2 and ended his hopes of a top 10.

Hogg got close within the final laps but was not within striking distance on the last bend, leaving Passey to come through and become the 2^nd racer on the day to claim their first ever F2 win, ahead of Hogg and Gary Webb in 3^rd.

Result: 2, 92, 421, 856, 352, 534, 82, 535, 185, 486

2020 STANDLAKE POINTS RACE

With only 2 rounds remaining coming into this meeting, the points battle was looking like a 5-way fight for the Gold Roof, with the table as follows:

After a meeting in which the highest finish any of the top 5 managed was a 3rd place for 421 Gary Webb, the situation remains that as we head to the final points meeting on November 15th, all 5 are still mathematically in with a chance of winning, with a total of 40 points available on the day.

Unofficially the scores are now as follows:

421 Gary Webb - 113

856 Paul Webb - 104

105 Louis Williams - 104

352 Andy Webb - 103

563 Keith Walding - 90